THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 TAG: 9512120039
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
FOR PARENTS OF young boys entranced by cartoonish ``action figures'' - Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Batman - a Vermont toy maker is pitching what he considers a more wholesome alternative.
David and Goliath. Moses. Samson.
Holyland Heroes, a series of five Old Testament action-figure sets, emerged from toy maker Dave Pagani's disgust with the violent and unrealistic fantasies most action toys represent.
``I really feel that a lot of the themes are too strong and too problematic for young children to deal with,'' said Pagani, president of New Ventures, the Montpelier-based company responsible for bringing Judas and Joshua to Wal-Mart.
Pagani said the figures, which come packaged two-to-a-box (Samson fighting a Philistine, David facing Goliath), are designed with the first rule of toys in mind - fun.
Then comes the educational part.
Each of the sets includes a 24-page color booklet, palm-sized to be kid-friendly, that explains in simple language the Bible story from which the figures emanated.
Pagani first imagined religious action figures 12 years ago, when he worked as a toy designer in California. There, he helped create such
toys as Masters of the Universe figures.
``I realized then that as a product designer, we were being asked to look at things like Greek mythology for costumes,'' he said.
While researching such history for costume accuracy, he began asking, ``Why aren't we doing the real stories?''
``Real'' meaning biblical or actual historical events.
He took his concept for the product line - called Great Heroes of Time, which includes American and world history heroes - to several major toy companies, he said, but they all turned him down.
Last year, he decided to take the plunge himself and begin manufacturing his dream.
In addition to figures representing the five Bible stories, there are five American-hero and five world-hero sets.
In the American-hero line, children learn the story of the Deerfield Massacre, in which Indian warriors under French command captured and destroyed the town of Deerfield, Mass., and about the battles of Yorktown, Gettysburg and Iwo Jima.
The world heroes are taken from more than 2,000 years of history - from the Roman Empire to World War I.
One expert isn't convinced the toys will be a success. The concept is commendable, said Anastasia P. Samaras, director of teacher education at the Catholic University of America in Washington, but the toys may not appeal to kids.
``Children have a very difficult time understanding what time means,'' she said. ``They can say long ago, and they can maybe think about things that happened today, but they're not going to have that historical time line like you and I would.''
Also, she said, kids don't want reality. ``I don't like action figures either,'' Samaras said, ``but they allow kids to fantasize and act out and sort out their own difficulties in their life. There's a reason for fantasy play.
``I'm afraid he's selling what the parent would like as opposed to what the children would like.''
She also noted that many of the series' heroes sound just as violent as fantasy action figures.
Pagani agrees. But, he said, because his figures are based on real history and put the violence into perspective, they're more beneficial to kids than the frenetic violence depicted by such figures as Batman.
For instance, one toy set depicts a peace-loving soldier fighting in World War I despite his own doubts about the war.
``Our whole message is here are people fighting, look at the reasons they're fighting, the tremendous questions they themselves are facing,'' Pagani said. ``These are not Power Rangers saving the world in 30 minutes; these are real people solving real issues.''
The 15 sets on toy shelves are targeted toward boys, Pagani said. Next year, the company will release a similar line for girls, including Biblical figures Ruth and Miriam and American heroes Harriet Tubman and Molly Pitcher.
The sets are sold in department stores, including Wal-Mart, Target and Ames, in addition to religious stores such as Heaven & Earth. They retail for $7 to $9 a set.
As expected, Pagani said, sales the first year have been slow. The company didn't do any advertising.
``Right now our battle has been to get the trade to accept it,'' he said. ``Convincing stores that this is a positive option. It doesn't make sense to advertise to consumers if the product isn't in the stores.''
But the support he's received from parents has convinced him he's on the right track. Barely a day passes without bringing at least one letter from a grateful parent.
Such response has been more than heartwarming, Pagani said. ``That's been the energy that's gotten us through this year,'' he added. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo
Holyland Heroes includes Samson battling a Philistine among its
biblical action-figure sets.
by CNB